The stock software should have the right licenses, compatible system requirements, a reasonable warranty conditions, a free trial period, and good technical support and customer service. The software purchased should be from a trusted source to avoid further complications in the future. Customer reviews and ratings as well as recommendations from brokers or trading companies are a good starting point in knowing which software provider is reliable.

There are quite a number of stock market investment software being offered for free over the internet. These are usually basic software with just one feature such as stock screening or data alerts. However, extra caution is required before downloading these programs. Most of the time, these are embedded with worms, spyware, and the like which hackers and scammers use to gain access to one’s records and files stored in the computer. On the other end of the cost spectrum, high end software that are quite expensive most often are worth the cost. These are advanced systems that can perform complicated tasks. However, this is used by trading professionals and the beginner might find them intimidating to use.

My favorite is midcast pro.